SHIPS AND SHIPPING. The law applicable to English merchant ships consists of so much of the common law as relates to personalty, the English maritime law to be found in statutes and decisions of her majesty's courts, and the general law maritimo recognised less or more by all civilised nations, but peculiar to no one nation in particular. The subject may be conveniently considered under the following heads :— 1. The ownership of merchant vessels.
2. Their navigation.
3. The persons who navigate them.
4. The carriage of goods and passengers.
1. Ownership. Acquisition of Ship Property.—Ships, or shares in them, are, in view of the law of England, personal property, which upon the death of the owner passes to his personal representative, and on marriage of a female owner to her husband. Ship property is legally acquired by construction, by purchase, or by capture from an enemy.
Very often, perhaps most frequently, the keel of a new ship is not laid down in the builder's yard before a contract has been concluded for her construction between the builder and his customer. Usually, however, all property in the uncompleted vessel continues meanwhile to be vested in the builder, notwithstanding such contract, even although payments be made in advance, and appear to be regulated in accordance with the progress of the work. It is not till she is completed and ready for delivery, and either delivered or approved of, that the rights of ownership vest in thq purchaser. Before that time, any instrument executed on his part, with the intention to transfer a title to the ship or any share of her, would be a mere nullity. It is, however, allowed by the law of England to stipulate for a transfer of the property in the uncompleted ship at any stage of her progress, in return for payment of the price in advance by certain agreed instal ments; and this is sometimes done.
Purchase of ships already built presupposes in the buyer much skill and no small degree of caution to be perfectly safe. The policy of law in this country respecting bargains is to throw the buyer entirely on his own resources in making the contract, by cutting off all hope of subsequent help out of difficulties into which he never could have fallen if he had used his reason at the time of the purchase. Moreover the difficulties in the way of a purchaser's retrieving himself in case of a bad bargain are increased by the recent statutes respecting the transfer and registration of merchant ships (17 & 18 Viet. e. 104; 18 & 19 Viet. c. 91). A compulsory form of bill of sale is prescribed by the statute, any deviation from which, by the introduction of other par ticulars, may deprive the buyer of the right of requiring the registration of his title. Warranties, therefore, and representations in the nature
of warranties, cannot now be introduced into the only document of contract that can be enforced In a court of law or equity. For any contract, however formal and solemn, other than the authorised bill of sale, although duly executed by both parties, and money paid upon it, gives the buyer no legal er equitable title to the ship, no right to sue in a court of equity for specific performance, or even any right to sue for damages in a court of law on nom-performance. This appears to be thought Indispensable to any system of effective registration of titles to ship-property.
Registration.—All British ships are now required to be registered, excepting only ships of fifteen tons burden and under, employed on British rivers or cdasts, and vessels of thirty tons, not having a whole or fixed deck, and employed in fishing off the coasts of British North America. A British ship is no longer necessarily a British-built ship, or a British-manned ship, but simply a British-owned ship. The persons who are capable in law of being owners of a British ship are (1), natural born British subjects ; (2), persons made denizens by letters of denization, or naturalised by or pursuant to any act or ordinance of the Imperial Legislature, or by or pursuant to any act or ordinance of the proper legislative authority in any British possession, provided that while they are such owners they are resident within her majesty's dominions, or members of a British factory, or partners in a house actually carrying on business in the United Kingdom or within the British dominions, and have taken the oath of allegiance subsequently to denization or naturalisation ; and (3), bodies corporate established under, subject to the laws of, and having their principal place of business in, the United Kingdom or some British possession. For the purpose of registration, a declaration of ownership is required from the applicant, whose qualification to be the owner of a British ship is thereby ascertained • and any ship sailing under British colours after a disqualified person has become one of her owners is liable to be forfeited and seized into the possession of the crown. Any person making a false declaration as to the qualification of the applicant, forfeits all right which he, or such applicant if cognisant of the offence, possesses in the ship.